Combustion chamber in cylinder heads of internal combustion engines



Jan. 31, 1939. H BARKEU 2,145,577

COMBUSTION CHAMBER IN CYLINDER HEADS OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed April 20, 1954 FIGi.

INVENTOR WK) wakes/ Patented Jan. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES COMBUSTION CHAMBER 1N CYLINDER HEADS OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION EN- Jean A. H. Barkeij, Altadena, cam. ApplicationApril 20, 1934, Serial" No. 721,721

. 4 Claims. (01. 123-191) The present invention is related to the subject matter of my previous application No. 325,115 of Dec. 10, 1928, now Patent No. 2,050,688, of Aug. 11, 1936, and also related to the subject 5 matter of my application No. 291,599 of July This invention relates to the combustion chamber of a valve-in-head engine particularly.

My general object is to construct a restricted passage between the cylinder bore (or piston chamber) and the combustion chamber containing the spark ignition means, and to place in such a construction the spark ignition means closer to the edge of the exhaust valve than to the edge of the inlet valve. Said latter construction appears entirely satisfactory at any speed, because the turbulence created by said throat (mechanical turbulence) prevents misfiring at any speed and especially at low speeds. Said mechanical turbulence prevents effectively stagnation of gases in the neighborhood of the spark ignition means. Therefore, although the present invention is particularly shown in relation with a cylinder head having the valves in the head (the valve-in-head type), it stands to reason that said principles may be applied on any type of four stroke cycle engine having exhaust and inlet valves or one exhaust valve and one inlet valve in a main explosion chamber communicating with said piston chamber or cylinder bore through said restricted passage between here and the combustion chamber, containing both of said valves.

In my copending application No. 21,403 of May 1 1, 1935, I apply said principles in particular to an L-head construction, in which the valves are constructed upright besides the cylinder bore, so that the spark ignition means are only carried in the cylinder head but not the valves.

My first object is to construct both Valves, the inlet and exhaust valve inverted in the head of the engine, and to locate both valve substantially above the cylinder bore, so that the major part of said valves are located above the cylinder bore when looking at said valves in top view towards said cylinder bore.

They both communicate either with the cylinder bore or piston-chamber directly Without any intermediate restricted passage (as shown in Figs. 1 and 1A).

My second object is to construct the main combustion chamber directly below the valves, and to construct adjacent thereto a second, smaller, explosion chamber or bay adjacent to the main explosion chamber, these two chambers being separated by a passage, which may or may not be restricted- However, the type with a re-.- stricted passage has been patented in my Patent No. 2,050,688 of August 11, 1936, so that in the present application there is inall modifications 5 only a single combustion. chamber. I

My third object is to provide the larger combustion chamber with a'spark plug in substantially horizontal position, and likewise the spark plug in the smaller explosion chamber.

My fourth object is to place both of said spark plugs approximately in a plane perpendicular to the piston pin, said plane passing through the axis of the exhaust valve approximately.

My fifth object is to have simultaneous igni- 15 tion from both spark plugs, if they are both applied on this combustion chamber. In other words a single spark plug may be used and mounted in either one of said chambers, in which latter case these form chamber. My sixth object is to raise the compression ratio in said engine by the location of said single or double spark plugs in certain. positions closer to the exhaust valve than to the inlet reasons to be explained hereinafter.

These various objects are shown in various combinations in the following drawing, but they all contain the feature of the first and sixth objects. 30

head on the section line IA ,IA of Fig. 1. 35

The cylinder is, of course, only one of a multicylinder-engine. In said figures the numeral I designates the cylinder head, 2 the cylinder, and la 2a are respectively the water jackets thereof.

Numeral 3' designates the piston, 4 the piston 40 pin, 5 the connecting rod. 6 is the main explosion chamber having the greater volume, 1 the smaller chamber. Numeral 8 designates the spark plug in, the smaller chamber, 9 that in the larger chamber. Numeral I 0 designates the 45 exhaust valve, Illa the exhaust passage, II is the inlet valve, Ila the inlet passage. However if a single chamber is shown, either numeral 8 or 9 is used, of course.

The combustion chamber 6 is shown here as 50 communicating unrestrictedly with the piston chamber 3a, but there may be such a restriction if a mechanical turbulence is desired to be caused in the main chamber 6, by the piston approach- 5 practically one 20 valve for 25 ing said restriction when reaching its top dead center position.

In the present construction the valves can open and close at any desired time, since the distance between valves and top of piston when on top dead center position is sufficient to allow any liberal lift of said valves downwardly. This feature is retained in all types and modifications, and is closely connected with the feature to retain the capacity of both valves to inhale and exhale respectively fresh and burned gases.

Another feature of extreme importance is the position of the spark plug. Spark plug 8 is offset in chamber I and so is spark plug 9 in chamber 6 from a transverse plane midway the axes of said valves. If only a main chamber 6 is used containing both valves, the spark plug 9 being located in the neighborhood of the exhaust valve, the gas in the neighborhood begins to burn first and compresses the unburned portion of the gas towards the cooler regions of said chamber. The exhaust valve is by far the hottest part in the explosion chamberand the heat radiating therefrom causes detonation of the'unburned portion of the gas when the ignition flame is initiated in the neighborhood of the inlet valve.

Equally when spark plug 8 alone is used and when placed as shown in Fig.1A, the gas in the neighborhood of the exhaust valve is burned first and during a certain stadium of the combustion a portion of the gas is crowded towards the cooler regions of the combustion chamber.

When both spark plugs are fired simultaneously at least one of them should be placed as shown in Fig. 1A, but preferably both of them, as shown. In the latter case, the action of the ignition flame from chamber 1 is somewhat undone, as the flame therefrom will compress not only an unburned portion of gas in chamber 8 but also a burned or/ burning portion of gas ignited by spark plug 9. Both plugs will do the same thing, crowd the unburned portion towards valve H.

Therefore the latter construction with two spark plugs is only preferred for very fast motors and where fuel economy is of first importance, like in truck engines, and in aeroplane engines.

I do not intend therefore to restrict myself to the construction of both plugs firing simultaneously, but consider the scope of this application to lie about in the scope of the following claims.

The position of the spark plug. 9 or that of 8, or both, is therefore largely independent or rather entirely independent of the relative position of the valves in the cylinder head, provided they are inverted in the cylinder opening downwardly as shown. Theform of. the combustion chamber changing according to the relative position of the valves is therefore also seeondary, as the form thereof depends largely upon the relative position of the valves, that is in upright or downward position. The feature of the double chamberis therefore also unimportant for so far as concerns the position of the spark plug near the exhaust valve, and in the same plane therewith a single chamber may be used if only spark plug 9 is used, or if only spark plug 8 is used, diametrically opposite the position of spark plug 9. Even if both spark plugs are fired simultaneouly, they may be placed in a single chamber, with or without the restricted passage, but both of them are by preference substantially in the same transverse plane with the axis of the exhaust valve.

The mechanism to lift the valves is not shown in the drawing, but these usual pushrods are supposed to be either to the right or to the left of the cylinder. If the pushrods are on one side, the exhaust and inlet manifold are usually at the other side.

It is finally preferred to construct the separation, between cylinder head and cylinder at the levelof the dotted line aa, so that the upper surface of the piston in top position comes level with the top of the cylinder bore. This facilitates the scraping of carbon from the piston head without-injury to the cylinder bore.

The present Figs. 1 and 1A represent only one cylinder of a multicylinder engine, having one or more banks of cylinders, in line.

It is emphasized that the form of the combustion chamber and the relative position of the valves is entirely independent of the present method of igniting a fuel-air mixture in an internal combustion engine of the explosive type. The chamber may, have practically any form, it may be of a double or a single chamber with or without a restricted passage therebetween. The location of the single or double spark plugs allows the designer to adopt a higher ratio of compression, when they are placed closer to the edge or center of the exhaust valve than to the edge or center of theinlet valve.

During the compression period and before ignition, the temperature of the gas mixture rises due to the compression and by the radiation of heat from the exhaust valve intosaid mixture,

especially injthe neighborhood of the exhaust valve and especially of its very center this being the hottest part in the combustion chamber.

Assuming that these temperatures remain the same with any position of the spark plug(s), it remains a fact that during the ignition, the exhaust valve continues to radiate heat. When the pressure rises due to a part of the fresh gases already burned after an'initial ignition by,

the spark plug near the exhaust valve, and when the unburned part is crowded by the burned part towards the inlet valve, the inlet valve will not radiate heat into said unburned part and therefore will not cause detonation in said unburned part because the heat of the inlet valve will not be sufficient to cause detonation thereof.

Conversely if the unburned part (raised in temperature by the pressure of the burned part initially ignited near the inlet valve) is crowded towards the exhaust valve, the radiation of heat by said exhaust valve into the said unburned part will cause detonation in said unburned part even when the temperature and pressure of said gases in the neighborhood of the exhaust valve were the same as those near the inlet valve.

During the entire compression period, however,

the gases in the neighborhood of the exhaust valve are influenced by the heat of the exhaust valve, notwithstanding the fact that the fresh charge'remains .more 01;;1855 in a state of turbulence, especially if a restricted passage is applied between combustion chamber andpiston chamber. (A so-calledRicardo-head, here for valvein-head structures.)

If detonation begins to occur in the neighborhood of the exhaust valve (the gas being ignited near the inlet valve), a vicious circle starts, as the exhaust valve gets hotter and hotter by said detonation, and this causes heat losses and a decrease in thermal, efllciency. When igniting the charge initially in the neighborhood of-the exhaust valve, this vicious circle cannot start,

heat losses are less, thermal efliciency higher. Therefore the position of the spark"plug(s) is of profound importance and significance.

It is understood, that the form of the combustion chamber, the mixture proportion, the timing of the valves and timing of the ignition itself, etc., have also great influence. It is well known to me'that when the spark plug(s) are placed as near as possible to the center of the gas massto be ignited, that the combustion is faster, but what I claim in this application is that in general the position of the spark plug(s) closer to the edge or center of the exhaust valve than to the edge or centerof the inlet valve will always decrease the tendency to detonation and improve the overall performance of the internal combustion engine. Hereby it is understood that said position(s) still may vary according to the specific form of combustion chamber to be adopted, but it .has (or both spark plugs) to be closer to the exhaust valve than to the inlet valve;

I claim:

1. In a four stroke cycle internal combustion engine of the explosive type, a cylinder with a cylinder bore, a cylinder head, an explosion chamber in said cylinder head communicating with said cylinder bore, an inlet valve and an exhaust valve in said explosion chamber, an additional explosion chamber of relatively small volume compared with said main explosion chamber and communicating unrestrictedly with said main explosion chamber, a spark plug in said additional chamber at the periphery of said combustion chamber and located closer to the edge or the exhaust valve than to the edge of said inlet valve, said additional explosion chamber being otherwise permanently closed, said inlet valve admitting all the gas to be burned to said main combustion chamber and another spark plugsubstantially diametrically opposite said first spark plug across the cylinder bore and means to ignite said spark plugs substantially simultaneously.

2. The combination of claim 1, in which said spark plug and additional chamber are so located that the burned gases streaming from said latter chamber reach the edge of said exhaust valve before reaching the edge of said inlet valve in said main explosion chamber.

3. In a four stroke cycle internal combustion engine of the explosive type, a cylinder with a cylinder bore, a cylinder head, a main explosion chamber in said cylinder head communicating substantially unrestrlctedly with said cylinder bore, an inlet and an exhaust 'valve in said main chamber, an additional explosion chamber of relatively small volume compared with said. main chamber, communicating with said main chamber through a passage, said latter chamber being otherwise permanently closed, a spark plug in said additional explosion chamber located substantially closer to the edge of said exhaust valve than to the edge of said inlet valve in said main chamber, said inlet valve admitting all the gas to be burned to said main combustion chamber and another spark plug on the other side of said cylinder bore similarly situatedand means to fire said spark plugs substantially simultaneously.

4. The combination of claim 3, in which a second spark plug is placed in said main chamber also located substantially closer to the edge of said exhaust valve than to the edge of said inlet valve in said main chamber.

JEAN A. H. BARKEIJ.

DISCLAIMER 2,145,577.Jean A. H. Barlceij, Altadena, Calif. COMBUSTION CHAMBER IN CYLIN- DER HEADS OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. Patent dated Jan. 31, 1939. Disclaimer filed Nov. 12, 1946, by the inventor. Hereby enters disclaimer to claim 4 and to the following subject matter Page 1, first column, lines 9 to 33 and lines 51 to 55; page 1, second column, lines 1 to 6 and lines 11 to 21; and page 2, first column, lines 53 to 75 inclusive.

[Ofiicial Gazette December 10, 1946.]

Disclaimer 2,145,577.--Jean A. H. Barkeij, Altadena, Calif. CoMBUs'rIoN CHAMBER IN CYL- INDER HEADS or INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. Patent dated Jan. 31, 1939. Disclaimer filed Jan. 29, 1948, by the inventor.

Hereby enters disclaimer to the third object, mentioned in lines 7 to 10, page 1, column 2; and to 9 that in the larger chamber in lines 44-45, same column; and to in chamber 6 in lines 14-15, page 2, column 1; and to various objects are shown in various in line 27, page 1, column 2; and to but they all in lines 2829, same column.

Further limits the scope of claims 1, 2, 3 by disclaimer to non-simultaneous firingin view of the prior disclaimers and in view of lines 48 to 52, page 2, column 1 of description.

And further limits the scope of the non-simultaneous firing to the range of 2 to 12 crankshaft rotation.

And further limits the sequence of the non-simultaneous firing to the sequence described in the description, in which the ignition is initiated in the hottest part of the chamber where the exhaust valve is located.

And further limits the scope of claims 1 and 2 for so far as concerns the location of the second sparkplug, to a position closer to the edge of the inlet valve than to the edge of the exhaust valve on account of the diametrically opposite position of the second sparkplug with respect to the first sparkplug, as defined in said claims.

And further limits the scope of claim 3 for so far as concerns the second sparkplug, to a position closer to the edge of the inlet valve than to the edge of the exhaust valve, and limits the words similarly situated, solely to a position in another auxiliary chamber as shown in Fig. 1a, and not to a position of the second sparkplug also closer to the exhaust valve than to the inlet valve as was claimed in the disclaimed claim 4 which referred to claim 3 and therefore limited claim 3 to such a position, originally.

[Ofiicial Gazette May 11, 1948.]

DISCLAIMER- 2,145,577.Je m A. H. Barke'ij, Altadena, Calif. CoMBUsTIoN CHAMBER IN CYLINDER HEADS or INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. Patent dated January 31, 1939. Disclaimer filed March 17, 1947, by the inventor.

Hereby enters disclaimer whereby the scope of the disclaimed fourth and fifth object and claim 4 is emphatically applied on, i. e., eliminated from the entire specificatlon, 1. e., drawings, description and claims. Therefore the simultaneous firing has been already eliminated from the explanatory or descriptive matter in lines 48 to 52, column 1, page 2, by the first disclaimer and the Word about in line 51 thereof, is disclaimed.

Therefore he disclaimed already by the first disclaimer from the scope of claim 3 any device in Which also the second spark plug is also closer to the edge of the exhaust than to the edge of the inlet valve.

The condenser in Fig. 1a is disclaimed. [Ofiicz'al Gazette May 6, 1947.] 

